Grand Ages: Medieval Review

Grand Ages: Medieval is a game based entirely round real-time strategy very similar to other games in the genre. The slight difference I would say about GA:M is that it is very negotiation centric with the other cities, With some kind of unit such as a trader or a builder in the vicinity to ensure a peaceful envoy of the message to the other leaders. This along with the real-time blend onto the map. really helped develop an entertaining game for me.

The game is very similar in mechanic to the popular PC Gaming series ‘Civilisation’. But despite the similarities from the two, this offering from Gaming Minds Studios just feels different and a little more niche in my opinion. With the game play leaning towards a more diplomatic style of play it might not bring the kind of warfare that I personally enjoy with these kinds of game.

Graphically this game is phenomenal really, With the world map to go off it was incredibly detailed with mountains in the right places where possible. Getting really close to the center of a village and you can see the day-to-day workings going on. But even when zoomed out this game really does look spectacular but it’s not only the ‘background’ graphics that are good. The way in-game features function with different options is also done very well. An example of this would be in-game units, varying from simple builders to the vast armies that a player can mass, are all quite simply marked on the map by a square flag type icon for easy selection and highlighting and as with other games in the genre these units can be mass selected and moved for ease of use. This overall is something that pleased me especially when considering this type of game doesn’t necessarily need excellent graphics as it is about the user decisions rather than what the user can see.

Sounds in this game are as expected generic background music for the genre just giving the user something to listen to while not really adding much to the game. also with different sounds when units are trained or buildings are completed so while it doesn’t excel in this area it isn’t exactly lacking compared to its competitors either. The one thing i personally specifically liked about the sound in this game was just the little warning when enemy units were nearby as they were highlighted on the screen or as you met other new cities. This however is also a feature in other games of its type and therefore isn’t really something the game can boast about.

Game play I felt was very well thought out and all round done very well. With this type of game typically being a pc game which obviously has a lot more buttons than console controllers do i felt this game didn’t struggle at all with any of the necessary functions to work the game. These were all easily achievable simply on the console controller. Something which I didn’t expect when i first picked up the game to play it. The first time the user plays as expected there is a tutorial as well so this really helps any newcomers to the genre as well as the veterans who may have moved over from PC and would find console controls difficult.

Overall I thought this game was actually done very will. I have played a number of older similar game on the PC as I had mentioned before, so i knew in a way what to expect from this game but i did surprise me with some aspects such as it being less about waging war and a lot more about using strategy and negotiation to try to take over towns. An example of this would be increasing my popularity in an enemy town by trading with them and then slowly persuading the citizens they should be ruled by me. This technique worked quite often so i sincerely suggest it to anybody who plays this game if they’re struggling for world dominance. With that in mind and this games heavy concentration on economy and happiness of citizens I really do think this is a great step for the genre on consoles and one that could bring an exciting new look if it is kept going and sequels are developed.

REVIEW CODE: A complimentary Sony Playstation 4 code was provided to Brash Games for this review. Please send all review code enquiries to editor@brashgames.co.uk.

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